Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of network-based communications and, more particularly, to a system and method to facilitate real-time communications and content sharing among users over a network, such as the Internet.
Description of the Related Art
The explosive growth of the Internet as a publication and interactive communication platform has created an electronic environment that is changing the way business is transacted and the way entertainment is perceived. As the Internet becomes increasingly accessible around the world, communications among users increase exponentially.
Several attempts have been made to facilitate such network-based communications, namely to provide software packages residing on a computer and configured, for example, to acquire digital content from content providers over a network, such as the Internet, and to facilitate sharing of the digital content among the users. However, the increased popularity of some of these software packages may give rise to legal problems in the areas of ownership and protection of the acquired digital content. For example, many of the current content sharing software applications rely on anonymous usage. Thus, there is an increased risk of unauthorized use of the content in violation of content protection laws.